A federal jury on Friday convicted triple murderer Brent Luyster of illegal weapons possession after a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.
Luyster, 38, was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and being a felon in possession of ammunition.
He faces up to 20 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and will be sentenced Feb. 25 by U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle.
His now-former girlfriend, Andrea Sibley, 29, was sentenced in May to about a year in federal prison for purchasing at least nine firearms for Luyster between March 2015 and May 2016 in Clark and Cowlitz counties. She had previously pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting a felon in possession of a firearm and making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm, according to court records.
Luyster — a violent, known white supremacist — allegedly used some of the firearms to assault a former girlfriend in May 2016 at his Longview home. He reportedly punched and pistol-whipped the woman, and fired shots at her as she ran from the home, court records say.
None of the nine firearms Sibley purchased were used in the July 2016 slayings of Luyster’s best friend, Zachary David Thompson, 36; friend Joseph Mark LaMar, 38; and LaMar’s partner, Janell Renee Knight, 43, at LaMar’s home southeast of Woodland. Luyster also shot Thompson’s partner, Breanne Leigh, then 32, in the face, but she survived. The firearm used in the shooting was never recovered.
Luyster was convicted in Clark County Superior Court of three counts of aggravated murder and is serving three consecutive life sentences, without the possibility of release, at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.
According to evidence presented at his federal trial, Cowlitz County sheriff’s deputies discovered the firearms and ammunition after responding to his home for a woman who reported being assaulted. She told deputies that Luyster hit her in the head with a gun, and neighbors reported hearing gunshots.
Deputies found Luyster on a hillside behind the house, and he subsequently surrendered.
They found ammunition in his pockets and recovered three firearms: a Bushmaster rifle, Glock .40-caliber handgun and Kel-Tec 12-gauge shotgun. A search of his home turned up five more rifles and a handgun. Luyster, who had previous felony convictions, was prohibited from possessing firearms, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The case was investigated by the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office, Longview Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, and FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bruce Miyake and Ye-Ting Woo.
